Nobel laureate Stefan Hell unveils MINFLUX microscopy to track single molecules in real time
Stefan Hell, who won the Nobel Prize for STED microscopy, presented the MINFLUX technique that can locate and follow individual molecules with nanometre precision.
The article traces microscopy from Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s simple lenses to modern fluorescence methods, highlighting how Stefan Hell’s STED microscopy earned him the Nobel Prize by improving resolution tenfold beyond the traditional 200-nanometre limit. Hell, born in Arad and later trained in Germany and Finland, now showcases MINFLUX, which replaces the bright laser ring of STED with a central dark spot, allowing nanometre-scale localisation of single molecules and even tracking their motion in real time.
Early tests on synthetic DNA scaffolds proved the ability to separate fluorescent tags only a few nanometres apart and to record distance changes on millisecond timescales. Hell emphasizes that, unlike electron microscopy, MINFLUX works on living cells, opening new possibilities for understanding protein dynamics and accelerating pharmaceutical research. He also notes that artificial intelligence can help analyse the massive data generated, but experimental hardware remains the bottleneck for future breakthroughs.
Why it matters
MINFLUX could transform biology and medicine by letting scientists watch individual molecules move inside living cells.
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